BOSTON -- A prosecution witness who was involved in the upper levels of state Probation Department hiring years ago testified Tuesday that final interviews with job candidates were weighted in favor of the commissioner’s choice.

Testifying under an immunity deal, Probation Department lawyer Edward McDermott said he was unimpressed by the March 2008 performance of Kelly Manchester, the girlfriend of state Sen. Mark Montigny, when she was up for a probation officer job at Bristol Probate and Family Court.

“She was woefully inadequate as far as her qualifications were concerned,” said McDermott, who said he and probation official Patricia Walsh had “grievous concerns” about Manchester after interviewing her.

Nevertheless, evidence in a racketeering trial against three former probation officials shows that Manchester received the top score after meeting with McDermott and Walsh.

Former Probation Commissioner John O’Brien and two of his former deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III, are on trial on fraud and other charges related to their alleged cover-up of a patronage system at the agency.

Under cross-examination, McDermott acknowledged that he had not previously been able to recall Manchester’s name. He said he had remembered her because of a prior job she held as a bridge operator in Dartmouth.

In opening statements last week, prosecutors said Manchester was the 21-year-old girlfriend of Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat, while defense attorneys said even a judge who gave her low scores during the second round of interviews was impressed with her performance.

Judge William Young has told jurors that patronage is not a crime, and that they must “keep your eye on the ball” about the alleged fraud committed to cover up the patronage system.

McDermott, who joined the department as a temporary employee in April 2004 with a recommendation from former House Speaker Thomas Finneran, said he would score non-favored candidates accurately and inflate the scores of the commissioner’s choices.

McDermott said he complained to his supervisor, Francis Wall, and, after interviewing Manchester, told Tavares that “this is bad stuff.”

McDermott said he did not voice his concerns to others, didn’t know how candidates came to be the “commissioner’s choice,” and didn’t know what happened to the scoring sheets after he submitted his scores to Wall or Walsh.

“Why rock the boat, because everyone else seemed to be participating,” said McDermott, who joined the agency after a career in civil litigation and with one of his children in college.

At another point, McDermott said, “There was nobody else to go to. The whole upper management was in on the fraud scheme.”

Page 2 of 2 - Some of the commissioner’s choices were the best job candidates, said McDermott, who said he participated in between 20 and 35 hiring panels.